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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23007793">Final Respects</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heliocat/pseuds/Heliocat'>Heliocat</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood &amp; Manga</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Funeral, Gen, Rememberance, final respects, graves, graveyard, risembool</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 10:01:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,293</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23007793</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heliocat/pseuds/Heliocat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ed pays a visit to the graves of his parents. A bittersweet ending to the series.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Final Respects</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Another older fic from the hard drive. It's short, but I wanted to write something which was happy yet sad and rounded off the series.<br/>Thanks again to Hiromu Awakawa for creating Fullmetal Alchemist - this is a work of fanfiction and I do not own any intellectual property. British English spelling and grammar used.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was early evening in Risembool, the sun painting the sky a deep crimson smattered with gold and magenta clouds. The dusk air was still pleasantly warm from the day, but the light breeze was rapidly cooling the landscape. A young man in a dark coat loped down one of the narrow country lanes, purpose in his slightly uneven stride. He’d had a growth spurt recently, so his automail leg was currently slightly out of proportion with the rest of him, leading to the odd half-limping walk. He carried with him two identical bunches of cut flowers; modest collections of lilies, carnations and chrysanthemums wrapped in cones of paper and held together with white ribbon. He paused as he came to the entrance to the graveyard, sighed as if readying himself for something stressful and then entered the hallowed ground.</p><p>He paid his respects to his mother first, removing the weeds and litter from around her gravestone and disposing of the old, shrivelled flowers left by previous visitors to her final resting place. He carefully placed the new flowers upon the grave and kneeled before it for a minute or two.</p><p>“I’m sorry, Mom. Looks like I won’t be able to make you nice things anymore,” he said with a wry smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll get Al to make you loads of cool things instead. He’s always been better than me at that kind of thing anyway. People keep telling me my artistic skills are somewhat garish... dunno what they mean. Guess there's no helping people's taste. I hope you’re not too disappointed; you were always so proud of my talent and now I’ve given it up. On the plus side, I’ll get to come and visit you a lot more, seeing as I’m in no rush to go anywhere anymore. I’m sure wherever you are you’re happy now - the person you waited for has finally returned to you. Rest well, Mom.”</p><p>After a final prayer in front of the grave, he stood and turned his attention to the more recent acquisition to the graveyard placed strategically next to his mothers. It was bedecked with a wreath of ivy and lilies, still fairly fresh with only a few wilted petals and browning leaves, placed at time of burial. He found he was shaking as he stood before this grave, though whether it was through nerves or sadness or some more complicated emotion that defies description even he wasn’t certain. There were a lot of things he had wanted to say to the deceased before they had passed away – a lot of things he regretted not saying now. Equally so were the amount of things he <em>had</em> said and regretted saying. He swallowed nervously before kneeling before the tombstone.</p><p>“Erm... well,” he started awkwardly. “In all truth, I never hated you. I may have said I did but I was confused and hurt. I was certainly angry at you – I don’t think I’ve ever felt so much rage towards another human before, although I came close with the Colonel sometimes,” he laughed dryly at his comment before continuing. “You left us with no explanation as to why, although I came to see your reasoning as I got older and, in retrospect, if I was in the same situation I would probably have done the same thing. Maybe that makes me a hypocritical twat, I don’t know, but at the time I could never forgive you for leaving Mom and us. I... I do now though... forgive you that is.”</p><p>He scratched the back of his head as he thought of something to say next, finishing the gesture by running his fingers through his long golden ponytail. Even though the guy was dead, he still found it awkward talking to him.</p><p>“I guess I just wanted a father who was there for me, you know. You may have been absent for most of my childhood but, in the end, when Al and I needed you the most, you were there. I don’t think we would have won that final battle if not for you. You were amazing and I’m proud to call you my father. I... I’m sorry for how I acted in the past. I’m sorry I punched you in the face pretty much every time I saw you. I’m sorry I wasn’t a better son. I would have liked to have told you this while you were still alive, but that was not to be. Granny told me you went with a smile on your face. I hope you found Mom in the afterlife and the two of you are happy. She waited so long for you to return...”</p><p>He paused briefly, a small smile on his face as he contemplated the grave.</p><p>“Oh yeah, thank you for that swing you erected before you left. It gave us so many good times as kids. I’m... erm... sorry for burning it along with the house. It wasn’t mine to burn and you were right; I was just running away from my problems and making excuses,” he added, before placing the flowers before the tombstone. “Rest in peace finally, you old Bastard.”</p><p>He sat in front of the two graves for a long while in silent contemplation, soaking in the tranquil quiet of the evening and remembering the good times of the past. The sun slipped beyond the horizon and daylight began to rapidly fade replaced by the first few stars of the night. He didn’t move from that spot until he was approached by a second person, a young woman who like him remained among the living. She wore a scarf and a knee length coat of ochre-coloured wool to protect herself from the cold.</p><p>“I thought I’d find you here,” she said, walking towards him and tucking a few stray stands of her blonde hair behind her ears so it didn’t blow around in the wind as much. “Granny sent me to get you. Tea’s nearly ready.”</p><p>“Alright Winry, thanks,” he said. “I’ll be done here in a moment.”</p><p>“I’m sure wherever they are, they’re safe and happy and finally together again, watching over you like good parents should,” she said reassuringly. “And I know that they’re very proud of you and Al.”</p><p>“They’re probably up there together with your parents having a huge afterlife party with Hughes and comparing baby photos,” he joked, getting to his feet. Winry laughed, imagining the sight of her father and Hughes arguing over who had the cutest daughter, while Trisha showed off embarrassing photos of naked toddlers.</p><p>“It’s bad that I can see that happening,” she giggled. Her eyes showed a hint of sadness as she remembered those who had fallen to death. “I miss them, every day I miss them.”</p><p>“We still have Granny,” he reminded her. “I’m starting to think she’s immortal...” She laughed again.</p><p>“You’re probably right,” she grinned. “The Pantheress of Risembool is a tougher beast than most!”</p><p>He sniggered and lay an arm over her shoulder, a gesture that they should walk together. “Come on Win, let’s get home,” he said, giving her a slight one-armed squeeze and leading her away from the graveyard, drinking in her aromatic scent of grease and floral perfume. He gave the graves of his parents a final glance as he left, bowing his head once in farewell to the forever sleeping souls.</p><p>“I’ll come and see you again real soon Mom... Dad...” he said quietly before walking up the darkening lane with Winry. He felt a great wave of relief wash through him, the tension dropping off his shoulders as a great weight was taken from his mind. He had finally made peace with his father and made amends for his sin with his mother.  </p>
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